Partnership results in Canada’s first urban forest software

(Ottawa, ON – May 30, 2008) — Michael Rosen, President of Tree Canada, officially announced the launch of CITYgreen Canada, the country’s first urban forest software, at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Annual Conference and Municipal Expo in Quebec City (QC) on Friday, May 30.

“Everyone knows that trees look great and do wonders for our environment,” Rosen explained. “But now, this software can demonstrate the monetary value of green spaces and how ignoring our urban forests can have ecological and financial consequences for our communities.”

The GIS based software, designed by Tree Canada’s sister organization American Forests, calculates the value of forest landscapes in urban areas. Tree Canada, with support from the FCM Green Fund, approached the City of Ottawa to develop a Canadian version of the program.

Trees sequester carbon, purify the air we breathe and contribute to the general well-being of Canadians, 80% of whom live in urban areas. Their contributions can have a monetary value attached to them, by reflecting the cost of municipalities having to develop solutions to combat air pollution and increased health costs.

The analysis of Ottawa’s green spaces indicated that existing forest canopy covers 27% of the city’s surface. These trees:

• removed approximately 629,323 kg of air pollutants per year which translates into a dollar value of $3,955,713.
• stored 1,011,745 tonnes of carbon and sequestered an additional 7,876 tonnes/year.
• provided the equivalent of 3,843,945 m3 of storm water storage which represents a savings of $219,104,850 if all this storm water was captured in built storm water management facilities.

Download the report

For a copy of the entire report “Application of CITYgreen™ Forest Cover Value Assessment Tool in the City of Ottawa” click here.

A tool such as CITYgreen Canada is very beneficial for municipalities because it can help with setting forest and tree canopy targets, the analysis of different community design options, the assessment of tree preservation plans for subdivisions and help determine values in tree compensation programs.

Copies of CITYgreen Canada can be purchased through Tree Canada. Please contact us at tcf@treecanada.ca for more information.

About Tree Canada
Tree Canada is a charitable organization established to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural environments. A winner of the Canadian Environmental Award (2007), Tree Canada engages Canadian companies, government agencies and individuals to support the planting of trees, the greening of schoolyards, and other efforts to sensitize Canadians to the benefits of planting and maintaining trees. To date, more than 75 million trees have been planted and more than 450 schoolyards have been greened. www.treecanada.ca

For more information:

Melissa Nisbett
Communications and Marketing Officer
Tree Canada
mnisbett@treecanada.ca
(613) 567-5545, ext. 224